Stop-motion for looms



J. A. GAGNO'N.

STO P MOTION FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 2. 1911.

1,369,417, Patented Feb. 22,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I. 4-5

Fla 4 55 INVENTOR:

' JOSEPH ALFRED GAGNON,

Maud M Q (G 6 E...- ATTORNEYS.

J. A. GAGNON.

STOP MOTION FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 2. 1917.

2 1,369,417. Patented Feb. 22, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- 10 automatic stop motions for looms.

45 construction herein disclosed.

UNITED STATES,

PIA-TENT OFFICE. v,

JOSEPH A. GAGNON, or SOUTH rrronnn'ns. MASSACHUSETTS, AssiGNoR To CROMP- QToN & KNOVJLES Loom worms, A CORPORATION or MASSACHUSETTS.

v STOP-MOTION FOR LOOMS.

1 all whom may concern: I

. Be it known that I, JOSEPH A GAeNoN, citizen of the llnited States, residing "at South Fitchburg, in the county of lVorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Stop-Motions for Looms, of which the following s a specification. I

This invention relates to improvements 1n More particularly it is the object of the invention to improve upon the type of stop motion 1n which the lathe of a loom automatically turns, off the power and stops the loom on 1ts forward swing whenever the shuttle has failed to lay a thread of weft or filling It is here illustrated as it may be applied to that particular type oi stop motion mech anism in which a dagger operating. on the hit or miss principle is thrown forward by the lathe, so asto hit a tumbler and thus to throw the shipper rod if the weft thread has not been laid, or is broken, but to miss the tumbler if the thread has been laid, as in normal running.

The object of the invention is'to increase the sensitiveness; to simplify the construction; -to eliminate sundry mechanical elements and combinations of mechanism which 80 have heretofore been'thought necessary in such apparatus and. to substitute improved devices; to reduce the cost of the mechanism; also to provide for applying the brake to a loom more quickly; using a milder spring on the brake and thus adding to the life of 40 out the invention, and that the weaver does not have to waste so much time in correcting mispicks. it is also the object of the invention to provide mechanism having the other advantages that are incidental to the The invention provides a Cami-or releasing the usual lu'ake rod from the latch that holds it. Such release turns oil the power and applies the brake in the usual or in any suitable way.

The cam is a light, sliding block actuated by verv light mechanism, such as a cord or wire which need be only strong enough to transmit gentle pull. The cam and its cord are normally held by a light spring in a position corresponding to the inactive po- Specification of Letters Patent. t nt 2, 1921 Application filed May 2, 1917. 7 Serial No. 166,034.

sition of thebrake rod. In order to apply the brake it is only necessary to overcome this light spring, and the spring that holds the brake rod latched. After such release the partsare instantly drawn back, and the tumbler resehby the said light spring, actingthrough-the cord in reverse direction, The action of the improved apparatus is so rapid that propulsion of the tumbler by the dagger for a shorter distance than heretofore suffices. 'The cam block travels transversely ofthe brake rod, and so can have as long a travel as is. desired, but as a short traveland complete execution of its duty in the earliest part of 'thetumblers motion is preferal')le, means is therefore provided for disconnecting the dagger from the tumbler promptly after the tumbler actuation begins, thus further reducing the stress and wear of parts. The'invention may be embodied in various arrangements of mechanism. It is intended that the patent shall cover by suitable expression in the appended claims what'- ever features of patentable novelty exists in the invention disclosed. One arrangement of 'mechanism and certain modifications thereof are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which;

Figure'l is a perspective, and to some ex-. tent a diagrammatical, representationof an embodiment oftheinvention, showing its installation on a loom, the view beingtaken from the right hand end;

Fig. 2 is an elevation, viewed from the left hand end, of certain details of the parts shown in Fig. 1, on a larger scale;

Fig. 3 is an elevation, viewed from the right hand end, of other details which are partly seen in Fig. 1, in difierent relative positions, on a scale morenearly approaching that of Fig. 1; i

Fig. 4 is a plan of a detail, on a large scale; and p Fig. 5 is a modified arrangement, corre-- sponding to part of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 represents a modified form of a de{ 4 tail and to push it upward, acting betweentwo collars, one of which 19, is rigidly supported from the frame of the machine and is loosely penetrated by the brake rod 15, and a collar fast on the brake rod. A pedal 21 provided on this rod, permits the operator to depress it. The brakerod has a latch consisting of'a notch and abutment 22 on its upper part, and the frame of the loom carries a casting having a keeper 23 adapted to.

engage agalnst this abutment 22. These two, with a spring 24 which tends to force them together, constitute a latch so that they engage whenever they are opposite each other. By depression of the pedal 21, the brake rod 15 is depressed with'the result that the brake 17 is released and, after the depression has been carried to the normal extent, the two latch members 22, 23 become Jenga'ged, and so hold the brake rod down with the brake released. The power is controlled by a separate lever 25 having a handle 26 conveniently located at the end of the 100m. This is seen in Fig.3 but is omitted in Fig. 1 for the sake of more clearly showing parts behind it. A link 27 and a connecting rod 28 lead to the power control. The operators handle 26 is on the upper end of lever 25. On its lower end is a boss 29 adapted to be engaged by a cam surface 30 on the vertically moving brake rod. When the loom is running under power these parts are in engagement or ready for engagement as illustrated in Fig. 1; but when the brake rod is released and flies up, the cam 30 throws the boss 29 and with it the lever 25 So that the lever 25 assumes the position illustrated in Fig. 3, thereby swinging link 27 and turning off the power.

The brake rod meanwhile rises to the position illustrated 'in'Fig. 3. Depression of the brake rod by the pedal permits the operator to work the loom by hand, but the lever.

25 stands unmoved, nevertheless, until the operator by pulling the handle 26 throws the boss 29 into contact position, to be again engaged by the cam 30; and at the same time throws power control link 27 and its connecting rod 28 into the running position.

The invention is concerned with the means for automatically releasing the latch 22, 23 of the brake rod 15. This effect is produced by a cam surface 31 on a sliding block 32, which is suitably mounted in a casting 33 supported by the frame. 11. The said casting is penetrated vertically by an oblong hole 34, through which the brake rod 15 travels up and down, with its spring 24 and as a W116.

latch 22, the inside of this hole having the keeper 23. It is penetrated horizontally, across the lower entrance of the vertical hole, by another hole in which the cam block interfere with the complete latching of the brake rod. The cam rise 31 normally is beyond, toward the end of the loom, to the right hand in Figs. 1 and 4 and projects horizontally so that, when thecam block 32 is pulled to the left its rise 31 gradually pushes the brake rod 15 away from the keeper 23 until it is unlatched and flies upward. This applies the brake and turns off the power as above explained, and so stops the loom.

The total'travel of the cam block requisite to effect this easily may be only about three eighths of an inch in an ordinary installation. The invention provides means to accomplish it by very light mechanism which transmits a simple pull. To this end the cam block 32 is attached to a lever 36, which is fulcrumed at 37 on the casting 33 and is adapted to be pulled to the left (in Fig. 1), by a suitable tie 40, there represented The points of attachment of the tie 40 and cam block 32 fall on the same side of the fulcrum 37, with the leverage in favor of the cam block; The tie 40 reaches to the middleof the front of the loom, where, Y

under the beam 11, it is attached to a bell crank 41 from which another tie 42 extends to an arm depending from the tumbler 13. This tumbler is in the shape of a bell crank, of which one arm is attached to the tie and the other arm is in position to be engaged by the dagger 44 on any forward swing of the lathe in a manner already well known.

An alternative arrangement is illustrated in Fig. 5 where the differences in construction are apparent upon comparison with the closely adjacent part of Fig. 1. In Fig.5 a flexible tie 40 is represented,.which may be piano wire, or even a simple cord, passing around a guide or pulley 41 directly to a tumbler 13 which, like the tumbler 13 of Fig. 1, is a bell crank with one arm positioned to receive the thrust of the dagger,

llO

but has its other arm connected to the lever The operation of the dagger. 44 may be controlled in any ordinary or suitable way.

The drawing illustrates a thread detector, comprising feeler wires whose descent is normally arrested by the weft thread thus preventing descent of, the dagger 44 to the level of the tumbler. VVhen the feeler wires 45 are not thus arrested, as when a weft thread breaks or is not laid, the dagger 44 is not arrested; and upon its further descent it continues along on-its guiding cam 46, and engages and drives ahead of it the upward projecting end of the tumbler. This, connected through its bell cranks lower arm, imparts a pull to the tie 42, which is transmitted by bell crank 41 to tie 40 and by that to lever 36 and so to the cam block the tumbler which is engaged by the dagger,

such that as the dagger travels along while engaging the end of the tumbler it rises-on this hump and quickly gets high enough to clear the tumbler so that the remainder of its travel is idle. The lever 36 has a spring 48 tending to draw it and the whole system of parts into the normal position of rest, which is to the right on Fig. 1. This spring,

1 which may be light because the parts are all so light throws cam block, ties and tumbler immediately back into their normal 'positions as soon as the dagger has cleared the tumbler. The single pullof'the cam block during the brief engagement ofdagger and tumbler is effective to release the brake lever 15 and incidentally to turn the rod 49 as the power lever 25 is thrown, these two being fast together. And the rod 49 has a spring 50 which is thus thrown downward and so presses on a, bell crank 51 that sets up a shield 52 which, when up, prevents the dagger 44 from descending low enough to enthetnmbler 13. This shield position, illustrated in Fig. 2, is useful whenthe-loom is being operated by hand. Each time that the dagger then reaches the abutment 53 on the forward end of this shield, the spring 50 and bell crank 51 yield, and then they push the shield back again when the dagger retreats. This happens as long'as the power lever 25 occupies the position ofFig; 3; but it ceases when the operator moves the handle 26 so as to turn the boss 29 back to its position illustrated in Fig 1, which action throws link 27 and the power connection 28 so that the loom is operatedby power. In doing so it turns therod 49 and thus lifts spring 50.

The apparatus thus described for connecting the tumbler 13 so as to release the brake rod and for automatically returning the tumbler and the brake releasing means to position for a repetition of the operation is simple and light and has the advantage that it supplants parts on looms as at present built that are more .complicatecl and have considerably more inertia. The parts thus supplanted have such inertia and such friction in operation, and work so slowly, that a powerful spring on the brake is required, in

order to expedite the stopping, and this results in rapid wear and occasional breakage of the gearing which connects it. Owing .to

the inertia of the brake releasing mechanism a powerful impulsehas to be delivered by the dagger upon the tumbler; and in practice this has been worked'out by distributing the stroke over a considerable distance through which the dagger pushes the tumbler before the release is accomplished. v r

The stroke of the dagger which releases the brake must be completed and the frictional drag of the brake which stops the loom must begin during the forward swing of the lathe, the one being-completed before the other begins; and it is anaim or ideal of the device as a whole to bring the loom to rest during the, very swing of the lathe in which the mispick has occurred, and in which the dagger stroke is made. Hence the invention by requiring only a very short part of the swing of the lathe for releasing the brake, renders available the time which corresponds to a very much'larger part of its swing for bringing the loom to rest during that swing. From this follows an elimination of the at present customary rapid wear and consequent necessary replacement of parts associated with the brake mech anism. The gentler application of the brake now possible relieves the gearing from I wear and from occasional snapping of teeth and from getting loose. Also the certainty and promptness of the stoppage reduces the number of mispicks which occur in the cloth, with resulting better cloth, and with less waste time of the wearer in correcting mispicks, with less waste material that has to be pulled out in correcting-the mispick, and with increase of the time in which the machine is productively employed. As the impulse required to release the brake is so little, as compared with prior construction, the dagger and the tumbler and their related parts are subject to much less shock of contact. This effects a material saving in breakage and damage to these parts. Consequently the maintenance cost of the loom is materially lower. The described stop motion is easy to apply to a loom and is relatively inexpensive to make and install; and, as the duty of the parts is so light, there is little or nothing to interfere with their continued perfect action in the manner intended without getting out of ency for the dagger to fail to knock off the brake when theloom is being run at high speed, and also time is saved which hitherto has been requisite for adjusting the various parts of. the stop motion, so that they will work to the best advantage after a change in speed of Weaving.

In considering variations of the particular device that is illustrated, it will be observed that as the force applied to the end of the lever 36 acts in the same direction as the force whichis applied to the cam 32, the tie 40 might be attached directly thereto. A convenient arrangement is shown in Fig. 7, in .which the tie 40 connects the bell crank 41 directly to the cam block 32, omitting the lever 36 shown in Fig. 1. The rod 15 plays between this cam and the spring 24: both of which, are engaged by the opposite sides of the same block or casting 33. Hence the disengagement of the rod 15 from its latch is effected without any outside base for the action being requisite, by a mere Wedging effect as the camsurface 31 of the block 32 is drawn through the hole provided in block 33. Being a simple, spreading action, not dependent upon momentum but rather on the precision with which the cam block is guided, this can be effected by a simple pull; and the pull is not necessarily applied precisely in the direction of the cam blocks motion. This affords considerable latitude to the convenienceof the designer in planning the connection from the thread detecting device, wherever it be in the middle portion of the loom, to the brake releasing clevice, in whatever part of the loom that is situated. The spring 48 which is attached to, the lever 36 may be equally said to be attached to the cam block 32, and by its connection through the tie 4O constitutes auto matic means for returning both the cam and the tumbler to a zero position which is pre-' cisely determinable by the' location of the sto pin 54.

claim as my invention 1. In a loom having a shipper, a filling stop motion, with a dagger'mounted on the v lay, and a member mounted on a fixed pivot and positioned for engagement by said dagger on filling failure, in combination, a brake rod movable to inoperative position independently of the shipper, means to hold said brake rod in inoperative position, a cam adjacent said holding means effective to release said brake rod, and operative connections between said 'member and said cam with a dagger mounted on the lay, and a member mounted on a fixed pivot and positioned for engagement by said dag er on filling failure, in combination, a bra 'e rod movable to inoperative position independ- 'jacent said holding means effective to release said brake rod, operative connections between said member-and said cam movable longitudinally to release said brake rod, and means to return said cam and member to normal position independently of the position of said brake rod.

In a loom having a shipper, a filling stop motion, witha dagger mounted on the lay, and a member mounted on a fixed pivot and positioned for engagement by said dagger on filling failure, incombination, abrake rod movable to inoperative position independcntly of the shipper, means to hold said brake rod in inoperative position, a, cam block adjacent said holding means effective to release said brake rod, and operative con nections between said member and said cam block, said connections including a transmittin element directl connected to said cam b ock and movab e longitudinally to position said cam block by a direct pull which moves said cam block bodil witha Stitlgllt line movement to release t ebrake r0 4. A stop motion for looms including in combination a weft thread detecting device; a. movable element controlled thereb a tumbler adapted to be engaged by sai element when engagement is not prevented by said thread detecting device; mechanism to stop the loom and meansto hold and to re-' ment when engagement is not prevented'by said thread detecting device; mechanism to stop the loom; and means to hold'and to release said mechanism comprising a rod of said mechanism, a block, a latch, a spring, and a cam connected with said tumbler; the spring tending to cause engagement of the latch; and the block having a vertical opening'wherein the rodis guided, and an ad jacent horizontal opening wherein the cam is-guided, thereby opposing the spring.

6. A stop motion for looms including in combinationa weft thread detectingdevice; a movable element controlled thereby; a tumbler adapted to be engaged and driven by said element when such engagement is not prevented by said thread detecting device; a stationary cam adapted tobe likewise engaged by said element and to deflect said element gradually from the path of the tumbler and so to disengage it therefrom; mechanism to stop the 100m; a latch for holding said mechanism out of action and releasing means therefor; and means where- Signed by me at Fitchburg, Massachusetts, this first day of May 1917.

JOSEPH A. GAGNON.

Witnesses:

EVERETT E. KENT, JOSEPH T. BRENNAN. 

